“Tak teraz postępują uczciwi ludzie” (This is What Decent People Do Now) – Book Launch in Vilnius
Many testimonies about the help extended to Jews during the War will forever remain unknown. Discovering the stories of Poles who offered aid to Jews in Lithuania is particularly difficult - after the War, borders changed, people changed their places of residence and, often, also changed their names and identities. Those. who remained in Lithuania, were locked within the world of the Soviet Union. The aim of Ilona Lewandowska's book is to restore the memory of the wartime rescuing of Jews in the Wilna region.
Conversations WIth Holocaust Researchers
Conversations form the basis for the book. The first part contains interviews with people who have devoted their research work to the history of the Holocaust or to remembering those who saved Jews. The author spoke with Dr. Arūnase Bubnys, Lithuanian historian and Director of the Research Department of the Centre for Research on the Genocide and Resistance Movement of Lithuanian Inhabitants, about the history of the Holocaust in Lithuania, the local conditions and the attempts to reconcile Lithuania with its difficult history of war and occupation. Dr. Marcin Urynowicz, historian and Institute of National Remembrance writer, presented the situation of Poles during the occupation and the consequences associated with the hiding of Jews. He also discussed the criteria involved with the bestowing of the title of Righteous Among the Nations. Danutė Selčinskaja, head of the Department of Eternal Remembrance of Rescuing Jews, in the Gaon of Vilna Jewish State Museum, pointed out the difficulties in obtaining information about the help extended to Jews during the War in Lithuania and also discussed the state of research and archival collections. She explained why Lithuania decided to award the Cross for Rescuing the Dying to those who had provided help to Jews, regardless of the procedures leading to the title of Righteous Among the Nations.
Stories of the Righteous and the Rescued
The second part of the book contains a dozen or so poignant family stories. Although they took place over seventy years ago, they still live not only in the memory of the witnesses, but also in the consciousness of subsequent generations. Based on available sources and documents, together with conversations with those who were in hiding and the famailies of the Righteous, the author selected eleven family stories and one collective hero - the Catholic Church. The book contains the story of Maria Fedecka, who saved the lives of many Jewish families and children and the story of Ignacy and Katarzyna Bujel of Wojdat who saved the life of a Jewish girl, Fejga Dusiacka. It also tells of the fate of Halina Płokszto, whose life was saved by being carried out of the Wilna ghetto by her nanny Weronika Tuniewicz and who then found refuge with Urszula and Władysław Płokszt. The book also contains the stories of Janina Strużanowska, Maria Paszkiewicz, the Mikołajun family, the Rakowski family the Kruminis-Łozowski family, the Woroniecki family, the Waszkinel family, as well as the Carmelite Father Andrzej Gdowski, the Benedictine Sister Maria Mikulska and the Dominican Sister Anna Borkowska.
Ilona Lewandowska’s text, enriched with archival material from the families of the Righteous and from the archives of the Gaon of Wilna Jewish State Museum, is accompanied by photographs by Bartosz Frątczak. He portrays the survivors and the families of people who saved Jews, He also documents the disaapearing traces of the extremely rich Jewish life with the territory of Lithuania.
The book launch took place on 14th March 2019 at the Centre for Tolerance at the Gaon of Vilna Jewish State Museum in Vilnius. Those who participated included the author Ilona Lewandowska, the photographer Bartosz Frątczak, the promoter and publisher, the Director of the Polish Institute Marcin Łapczyński and other invited guests: Dr Marcin Urynowicz of the Institute of National Remembrance, Dr. Arūnas Bubnys of the Centre for Research on the Genocide and Resistance Movement of Lithuanian Inhabitants and Danutė Selčinskaja, Head Department of Eternal Remembrance of Rescuing Jews of the Jewish State Museum.
The Exhibition “Between Life and Death – Stories of Rescue During the Holocaust”
Read about the Exhibition which presents to stories of rescuing Jews in ten European countries »
Event Organsiers: Polish Institute in Vilnius and the Centre for Tolerance of the Gaon of Vilna Jewish State Museum.
Publication patrons: the Polish Ambasador in Vilnius, the Gaon of Wilna Jewish State Museum, the Jewish Historical Institute and the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews.
Media patrons: Polish Overseas Radio, TVP Historia, w Sieci Historii and Kurier Wileński.
